"The elders offered me a final trial.
I could accept or decline. If I declined, I would leave with my drawings and notes on the wildlife, free of punishment. But if I accepted, I was promised a chance to meet the spirits in person.
Curiosity overwhelmed me. A voice in my head warned that it must be dangerous, but the marvel of the unknown won over common sense once again.
I climbed into a canoe and began my journey upriver, unarmed and without provisions, prepared to face whatever lay ahead.
The infinite jungle unfolded before my eyes. Its vastness was staggering; I could feel its secrets pressing in from every direction. I would need ten lifetimes to study all the life it contained.
Before a great waterfall, we reached a small island. The chief and the canoe driver left me there, silently paddling away without so much as a backward glance.
I waited for hours, shivering from cold and hunger, the sounds of the jungle creeping into my mind.
And then, from the darkness, two glowing lights emerged, floating closer with an otherworldly rhythm. Moments later, a figure stepped into view—a man, or rather, something shaped like a man. Metallic, reflective, and standing at least two feet taller than me.
The murmurs in the audience grew louder, their disbelief palpable. Frank turned to observe the crowd. The ordinary people were captivated, their eyes wide with wonder, while the scholars and intellectuals wore expressions of doubt, some already whispering among themselves.
The tension reached its peak when Eustakio pulled a folded sheet of paper from his jacket and revealed a drawing. It was a detailed sketch of himself standing beside the strange, metallic figure.
For the first time in his life, Frank felt a sliver of doubt about his father.
